I had heard a great deal about the movie Juno while it was in theaters.
Everyone was raving about this movie about teenage pregnancy written by a former
exotic dancer (that’s right, I said exotic dancer). This movie was getting
terrific reviews from critics and was even nominated for four Academy Awards
including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best
Director. It won for Best Screenplay. And yet, I wondered what all the fuss
was about. Teenage pregnancy movies had been done before, so what made this one
so special? One of my co-workers had seen the movie and told me about it.
After her synopsis, I decided to check it out for myself and rented the DVD.

Juno MacGuff is a bright, young high school
outcast with a geeky boyfriend, a cheerleader best friend and a slightly
dysfunctional family. One night of boredom leads to a night of mischief,
culminating in Juno’s becoming pregnant. Realizing that she is too young to
raise a child and discovering that abortion is not a viable option for her, Juno
decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Though her parents are
not exactly happy with the situation, they are tremendously supportive. So is
best friend Leah and even Paulie Bleeker, geeky athlete and father of the child,
doesn’t seem to shun her as expected.

Juno responds to an ad in the local
Penny Saver
and the prospective adopted family is found. The Lorings are a young “Yuppy”
couple living in suburbia who have been trying to adopt for quite some time with
little success. Mark is not quite sure if he is ready for fatherhood, whereas
Vanessa feels she was born for motherhood. Juno instantly takes a liking to the
two and decides that they are the couple for the job.

Now, most of this probably makes Juno sound like the average teenage
pregnancy story. Well, after watching this movie on DVD in the comfort of my
home, I have to say that it most certainly is not. Screenplay writer Diablo
Cody dishes up a hilarious tale, offering us a lead character that is quirky,
intelligent and full of fun. Juno is not your average teenager and her approach
to her situation is anything but ordinary. As I watched this movie written in
the point of view of the pregnant teenager, I kept thinking to myself – Ah!
This is what all the rave reviews are all about. The screenplay is
phenomenal and the line delivery spot on.

The acting in this movie was excellent in that
none of it seemed like it actually was an act. While this is not Ellen Page’s
first movie (you may remember her as Kitty Pride in

X-Men: The Last Stand),
this is a standout performance for the young actress. Her portrayal of Juno was
so believable that it earned her a highly coveted Oscar nomination for the
role. Michael Cera, also of Superbad fame, is terrific as Paulie Bleeker,
father of Juno’s child. Jennifer Garner is gushing to the point of nausea as
Vanessa Loring. I have never really liked Jason Bateman, a dislike that has
dated back to his days on the television comedy series, Valerie. For
some reason, he has always played irksome characters and his character in this
movie is no different – I despised Mark Loring. Is this due to a special talent
on Bateman’s part to perfectly immerse himself in a role and become what he
needs to be for that role? Or is it just that he happens to be an irksome
individual portraying roles that are not a far toss from his own persona? Alas,
being the lowly reviewer that I am, I probably will never know. J.K. Simmons
and Allison Janney are terrific as Juno’s incredibly accepting parents and
newcomer Olivia Thirlby was funny as Juno’s teacher-obsessed best friend, Leah.

I loved that this movie was written in Juno’s point of view. This is the first
movie about teenage pregnancy that I have seen written in the POV of the
teenager. It covers all of the issues that plague pregnant teenagers in a
humorous, yet poignant way. Take, for instance, the expanding belly. Juno
jokes about it and we laugh as she pukes blue Slurpee into her stepmother’s
favorite urn. But we also feel Juno’s pain as she complains about the way
people look at her and the fact that she can’t go to the Winter Dance. I also
loved the way Diablo Cody made certain that, although Juno can act very mature
at times, we never lose sight of the fact that Juno is a young teenager who can
also be very childish.

There’s another thing about this screenplay
that I really loved. Cody can deliver lines of dialogue that will make you
laugh hysterically like:

VanessaLoring:
Your parents are probably wondering where you are.Juno MacGuff:
Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could
I get into?

and:

Bren:
Doctors are sadists who like to play God and watch lesser people scream.

Yet she can still deliver valuable lessons in lines like
this:

Mac
MacGuff:
In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for
exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have
you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your ass. That's the
kind of person that's worth sticking with.

With that kind of writing talent, I think that the name
Diablo Cody is going to be around for quite some time. In fact, as I watched
Juno, I remember thinking that I truly hoped that Diablo Cody would present us
with another film sometime in the near future. After viewing Juno, there is
nothing that would keep me away from her next project.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this review,
I rented Juno on DVD. Being one who loves extra features, I couldn’t
wait to check out the extras on this DVD. For my viewing pleasure, there were a
multitude of deleted scenes. After watching these scenes, I found myself
wondering why they were deleted. They were just as terrific as the rest of the
movie and the only reason I would have deleted them is for time constraints.
Also available for my viewing pleasure was a Gag Reel, featuring numerous
bloopers that took place throughout filming. There was also a Gag Take
which perplexed me – I wasn’t sure if the fight taking place between the actor
and the director was real. It seemed real and rather unprofessional and the
lack of laughter in the scene led me to believe that this was no joke. I would
have left this one out of the Extras section. There was also a Cast and Crew
Jam and an opportunity to view the Juno Screen Tests.

Do I recommend you buy the Juno DVD?
DUH!!! This is a terrific movie that you can’t afford to pass up. If you are
into extras as much as I am, you might want to do me one better. I watched the
single disc version of the film. The two-disc version of the film contains four
rather interesting featurettes in addition to all of the extras found on the
single disc version. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest store and buy Juno
today! You won’t be disappointed!